‘Red sanders mafia’ in South India:

Abstract

This chapter offers insights into the material assemblage of red sanders smuggling, extending to its recruitment and labour processes and the role of electoral democracy in determining hierarchies and structures of power. By following a number of smugglers/politicians’ career trajectories, it explores how electoral politics and the red sanders mafia are entangled in relations of intreccio. It also reveals how the regulation of red sanders smuggling is deeply entrenched in the economic, cultural and political history of Rayala-seema. The latter is further illustrated by the ways the mythical figure of Veerappan is used to negotiate labour, violence and justice in the region.